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Preface

Public Health Preparedness: Strengthening
the Nation’s Emergency Response State
by State presents data on preparedness
activities taking place at state and local health
departments in 50 states, 4 localities (Chicago,
the District of Columbia, Los Angeles County,
and New York City), and 8 U.S. insular areas
located in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.1
All are funded by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Public Health
Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) cooperative
agreement.

Reports on public health preparedness are
an important part of CDC’s overall focus
on demonstrating results, driving program
improvements, and increasing accountability
for the nation’s investment in public health
preparedness. CDC has now released
three preparedness reports; this is CDC’s
second report with state-by-state data on
preparedness activities. It includes updates
(when available) to data presented in CDC’s
first state preparedness report, Public Health
Preparedness: Mobilizing State by State
(2008),2 as well as new data on state and local
preparedness activities. In 2009, Congress
expressed its desire for CDC to continue to
report state-by-state data.3

Section 1 of this report focuses on core public
health functions and provides national-level
data on preparedness activities in laboratories
and response readiness. Section 2 includes
54 data fact sheets for each of the 50 states
and 4 localities, followed by a description of
preparedness progress and challenges in the 8
U.S. insular areas.

Also included in this report are snapshots of
preparedness and response activities and
accomplishments occurring during the 2009
H1N1 influenza pandemic. Activities conducted
in 2008 and 2009, the primary timeframes
for data in this report, helped build and
strengthen capabilities in the states and at
CDC that were essential for responding to the
pandemic.

All reported activities were supported by
CDC’s Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency
Response funding (which includes PHEP). This
report does not describe all preparedness
activities conducted at CDC or in states and
localities. For a description of the broader
range of CDC preparedness and response
activities, see CDC’s second preparedness
report, Public Health Preparedness:
Strengthening CDC’s Emergency Response
(2009).4

How Different Audiences Can Use
This Report

This report was written for a variety of
audiences. States and localities can use this
information to broaden their knowledge about
progress and gaps in preparedness across their
jurisdictions and throughout the nation.

Congress and other policymakers can gauge
national public health preparedness as they
read about many of the activities that states,
localities, and insular areas have undertaken to
improve public health preparedness.

Other federal departments and agencies
and CDC partners (e.g., key public health
associations) may gain a greater understanding
of the scope of federally funded preparedness
activities. This may help to generate new ideas
for collaboration.

Within CDC, programs can use the report
to gain a broader understanding of how
states, localities, and U.S. insular areas are
preparing for public health emergencies, their
capabilities and gaps, and the challenges they
face. This information can also be used as a
tool to guide CDC’s technical assistance to
recipients of PHEP funds.